


Opening Up

by bimbofish



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Parenthood, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-01-24 23:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bimbofish/pseuds/bimbofish
Summary: Wicke can't seem to hatch this egg a trainer gave her.  No matter what she tried, it wouldn't budge.  But when Guzma cracks the egg open and insists they raise the pokemon inside together, she has no choice but to say yes.  What happens when a Cottonee brings two opposites closer together?
Relationships: Guzma/Wicke (Pokemon)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Crack it Open

**Author's Note:**

> if nobody makes content of your ship, you gotta do it yourself

This was worrying. No matter who I talked to, who I asked, what advice I got, this egg was  _ not _ hatching. Worrying was an understatement— I was terrified. A tourist came to the labs with a report that this egg wouldn’t hatch. We promised to help ensure that it would and return it once it did, but e said he wouldn’t be able to be there for it. He was leaving the next day to go back home and he was sure we would take good care of it for him. I don’t intend to betray that promise now.

I sighed. I had gone to nearly all the Kahunas in Alola looking for guidance. Kiawe had found a Talonflame with Warm Body, but after nesting with it for several days, nothing happened. Hala tried to do a dance with it, Ilima tried to pull some books about egg hatching to no avail. Mallow tried to make an herbal mixture to spread on it, still no help. She tried nearly everyone and the Aether Labs only helped so much. We focused much more on hatched Pokemon that we lacked proper technology to help with eggs in varying cases such as this. Nurseries in Alola had politely declined, stating they specialized in raising pokemon, not hatching them. But still, there was one person I haven’t tried yet. My gut twisted a little at the thought.

But here I was, at his door, egg in hands, listening to the sound of his steps he got closer to the door. My feet stepped close together. I could never get used to how tall he was. Guzma opened the door, I noticed how it took him a second to look down. His posture relaxed, he leaned his forearm against the door frame and prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue.

“What’re you doin’ here, missy.” He sounded both displeased and curious. I hesitated.

“I need your help.”

“ _ My _ help?” He smirked. “Li’l Miss Wicke needs  _ my _ help? Oh, I’m honored—”

“I don’t need the attitude.” I hissed, he was amused. I sighed and forced myself to lose the attitude. “Please, I… I can’t hatch this egg, I’ve tried everything, I’ve talked to everybody I could feasibly think of but nothing’s working. I was wondering if—”

“Have you tried cracking the shell?”

“The what?” Guzma twirled his pinky in his ear, looking off into the distance. I could see his Ariados cautiously peeking out the door from a distance.

“Cracking the shell. I know sometimes bug pokemon have several pokemon in one egg, ‘specially Spinarak eggs. You just give ‘em a little crack and open the shell for them if they’re havin’ trouble and they come right out.” I hesitated.

“But… Wouldn’t that hurt them?” He waved me off and straightened his posture, diving his hands into his pockets.

“Naw, they’re fine. They just go crawlin’ around as normal— real cute after they first hatch, have you seen newly hatched Spinarak before?”

“I can’t say I have…” I looked down at the egg with doubt. He can’t seriously want to crack this egg open, what if it’s not a bug type?

“Here, let me see it.” He held his hands open, I instinctively held it closer. His face fell. “C’mon, you came to me for help, right? Let me see it.” He sounded more forceful this time around, I hesitated, but slowly unwrapped my arms from its base and delicately placed it in his hands. He seemed satisfied and opened the door wider. “Come inside, sorry about the mess.” He immediately sauntered in, stepping over his Ariados who follows his movement with his eyes. He glanced at me with a twitch of his mandibles. I stepped inside and walked around him.

“You’ll be careful, won’t you? You won’t hurt it right?” I insisted, quickly noticing the presence of his other pokemon, several of which I was familiar with. It was sweet to see them all in good health and spirits. He was waltzing over to a couch— a little battle-worn— and plopped himself down, bringing the egg to his ear and knocking on it. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Was he messing with me? He perked up.

“Well, it’s not dead, so it should work.” He waved me over. I hesitantly approached, aware of several buggy eyes on me. “Listen,” he instructed, I pressed my ear closer to it. He knocked again, and a moment later came a soft squeal. I gasped.

“It’s alive!” I clapped my hands together. There was still hope. If what he said worked, oh, I would be forever in his debt. He summoned one of his pokemon over, and my hope vanished. A Pinsir.

“Wait you’re going to crack it open with…?” I froze. His horns looked so sharp... What if it hurt the pokemon inside? I could only see this going  _ terribly _ wrong. “G-Guzma, surely—”

“Do you trust me or not?” He snapped. I held my tongue. He was always fond of bug types, they were his specialty. I did come to him for help and here I am getting cold feet despite his advice.

“I’m sorry, I’m just…” I shook my hands a little. “I’m all jitters. I’ve been trying to hatch this egg for weeks and not that there’s hope I’m scared. I don’t want to lose them after all this. I trust you, I do, I’ve just never seen this happen before and…” I trailed off but he seemed to get the message.

“Pinsir hatched a few eggs before, don’t worry about a thing. We’re experienced.” He chuckled at and nudged the pokemon who was just as amused. One of his pokemon fluttered over and landed in my hair. I tried to look up at who it was, but Guzma laughed harder.

“Look, Masquerain’s worried about ya.” The pokemon chirped quietly, I huffed and smiled sheepishly.

“Ah, you’re right. I’m just being silly.” I admitted, although a part of me still worried about this process. Before I could protest, he placed the egg between Pinsir’s horns. I held my breath, Masquerain purred to ease my nerves. Despite his appearance, he was quite gentle. I noticed how his horns very slowly moved together around the egg, which trembled in its grip. With a sharp  _ crack _ , I winced, the egg cried out quietly.

“Guzma—”

“Relax, ya big baby.” He looked at me, his impatience growing. “You want me to hold your hand?” He was mocking me, but I held my hand out to him without a second thought. He rolled his eyes and took it, giving it a firm squeeze. “It’s almost over.” I never realized how big his hands were… I forced myself to look at the egg instead, which after one more crack had a big line separating the egg into a top and bottom half.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Guzma ordered. Pinsir stopped moving his horns and I softened. He let go of my hand and took the egg away from him. The egg began to shake in his grip, a force pushing up at the top half of the shell, and soon, a little leaf poked out.

“Oh!” My eyes widened, I took a few steps closer, and soon the leaf seemed to flap around, trying to shake the top half of the shell. I looked at Guzma.

“Can you take it off?” He shook his head.

“It’s got it.” He was right. Soon the side of the shell moved as the pokemon nudged it. Soon, it nudged it off completely. My eyebrows furrowed, Guzma’s rose.

“What kinda pokemon is that?” Right as he spoke, it blinked up at me, then upon seeing the Pinsir shrieked and flew into Guzma’s face, thrashing around as it tried to get away. He struggled, scrambling to pick it off to get it off his face. I giggled.

“I believe that’s a Cottonee,” I pushed my glasses up my nose, watching as Guzma pried it from his face as it wriggled around in his hands. I watched him squint and try to study it. “It’s not from this region, a tourist gave it to me and told me to keep it because he was leaving Alola.”

“So he dropped an egg on you and ran? Some father he is.” The pokemon freed itself from his arms and hid behind his sweatshirt, trembling. Guzma was too confused to react properly, he just kinda watched it all happen. He looked to me for help, his Pinsir waddling off. I sat beside him when the little thing peeked outside of his hoodie.

“I think it was scared,” I hummed, Masquerain drifting from my head into Guzma’s lap. The Cottonee retreated back into his sweatshirt, but a moment or two later reappeared and cautiously watched from a distance. The bug cried out to it, and it cried back, a little lower and softer. Guzma clicked his tongue.

“Looks like a grass type. Must be a real welcoming sight to wake up here.” He opened his jacket just a little more, Cottonee seemed much more alert and huddled against him.

“I think it likes you.” Masquerain remained very still as he watched the other, I wasn’t able to sense whether it was out of patience or a readiness to attack. Guzma groaned and watched it a moment more. All of a sudden he jumped up and pointed to me.

“Jumpy.”

“Jumpy?”

“Well, we gotta give the baby a name! Thought I’d name him after his mama.” He smirked, I gasped then swatted his arm. He seemed to get a kick out of that.

“Why would you name a p— Wait, we?” He nodded, he seemed very enthusiastic, whether it was about the idea or getting a rise out of me, I wasn’t sure. 

“We. We hatched this egg together, it’s  _ our _ child.” He purred, my gut wrenched. I pursed my lips together in disgust.

“No no,” I insisted, avoiding his gaze. This was embarrassing. “Not our  _ child _ .”

“Your face is bright red, missy.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. I had no choice but to go along with it. “Listen, her father bopped outta the picture and I would be  _ honored _ to take that role but she can’t stay here, see how scared she is? She’s your pokemon now, yeah? But look at how much she likes me.” I didn’t have a good feeling about this, but it did seem really attached. The Cottonee pried its face away from his shirt for a second to look up at me. I could’ve melted on the spot if I wasn’t so painfully aware of how tight Guzma was gripping me.

“You seem very eager to do this.” I muttered, holding my hands out to the little one who hesitated at first, but after realizing the bug types didn’t flock to me fluttered right into my hands.

“Believe it or not, I’ve always wanted to be a dad.” I had a hard time believing that. He didn’t seem to be letting up and if I kept fighting it, he would get worse. Afterall, he did help hatch it… I groaned.

“Okay, how often do you want to see her?” I asked. He grinned wide and I realized I had given him too much power.

“Everyday.” I could feel regret washing over me in waves. Still, I responded, “I’ll try my best.” Once satisfied, he let me go. I had to regain my composure before I stood slowly, Cottonee wriggling to look at Guzma before we departed.

“You have Aether’s number, you can reach me there,” I instructed. He seemed so wickedly giddy. “If I’m busy then I may not be able to do every day.” His mood fell, but only by a little. You could tell a lot from his facial expressions, you never realized how animated he could be.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let ya know what’s up. See ya tomorrow, Wicke-y.” He snickered and blew a kiss at me before I turned tail and left.

What had I gotten myself into?


	2. Open to the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wicke returns to work, everybody is excited to see Cottonee. She still questions if Guzma is serious about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg i... can you tell i play moon and not sun. i really thought cottonee wasn't in the alola region, only petilil so... sorry about saying she wasn't last chapter! i fixed that for this chapter

The good thing was that everyone at Aether was very happy to see the egg had hatched. The bad thing was I had to see Guzma every day. I don’t mind him and I certainly don’t hate him but sometimes he can be very overbearing. And for him to spring such a proposition on me when I am so busy with my work here at the foundation, it was certainly inconvenient. Of course, I didn’t tell him that— I should’ve— so he had no idea. I had no idea whether to blame him for all this or blame myself for not speaking up. A few workers approached me saying that I seem irritated today, it definitely made me feel worse that I was taking it out on them. I would have to make it up to them tomorrow.

When we, the Cottonee and I, got to the foundation I immediately started doing some basic research on them. It perched itself patiently and calmly on a table while I read up on their Pokedex entry. Native to Unova, evolved into Whimsicott with the exposure of a Sun stone, a Grass and Fairy type, female (How Guzma knew that she was a mystery to me. I chose not to dwell on it.), a Timid nature and knew the moves Absorb and Fairy Wind.  _ That moveset is fairly battle-ready _ , I thought to myself,  _ but with a lowered attack, battles may be something to work on gradually _ . The entire time I took notes, the Cottonee had her eyes glued to me, just watching. Not necessarily out of fear but curiosity. Very patient and sweet.

I never had a lot of pokemon. The only two I have are Bewear and Delibird, both for work-related purposes. I had caught Bewear as a Stufful when I was a teenager because he wouldn’t stop following me to school. I was flattered to have him as my first pokemon, albeit a little embarrassed that I had caught my first so late after my classmates. I met Delibird on an expedition where we were investigating a case of Vulpixes attacking trainers— not their pokemon— unprovoked. One had attacked him and he returned to base with an injured wing. So overwhelmed with thanks, he wanted to stay by my side and help others. I didn’t have the heart to say no and frankly, he had grown on me too. I was never interested in having a lot of my own pokemon like the trainers who had passed through, I hoped that Cottonee would accept me as a caregiver rather than a trainer.

Once done with my research, I noticed my shift was nearly over. I had a lot more work left to do, I had gotten so distracted with learning more about her that I lost track of time and—

“You can leave at your regular time,” Faba didn’t seem to pay attention to me directly when I asked for overtime, he seemed much more invested in whatever was pulled up on his computer. “You don’t have to worry about that, Wicke. We know you’ll get it done on time.”

I sighed with relief, Cottonee snugly perched in my arms. “Thank you, Faba. I’m sorry, I was just so worried about the egg and well…” I trailed off, he looked up to glance at her with a smile.

“I’m glad she’s out. You would think that a tourist would give you an egg with a pokemon not native to Alola, hm?”

“Not necessarily, there’s a lot of overlap. I wasn’t expecting anything in particular.” Cottonee wriggled from my arms to float over to Faba’s desk, mewling softly as she approached. He held his hand out to her, she sniffed it.

“I was.” He busied himself back in his computer, Cottonee lost interest and flapped her way over to me, nuzzling my arm. I held her in both arms and she seemed content. I gave him a slight bow.

“Thank you, goodbye Faba.” He grunted a goodbye back and I left. As I made my way back to my office, a few of the pokemon we were taking care of had their interest piqued in the little one, the workers took a quick look before trying to distract them. She had become quite the celebrity in a short amount of time, I giggled to myself.

“What am I going to do with you, silly girl?” She looked up at me and rustled her leaves with pride. I couldn’t help but smile. What a charmer.

We arrived in my office shortly, I just needed to gather a few things to take home with me— mainly notes about Cottonee that I spent most of my time collecting. I had no idea Guzma’s extent of knowledge about Cottonee, it would be best to assume none and fill him in on the details. The phone rang causing me to jump with a squeak. Cottonee flew from my arms out of surprise, I regained my composure to calm myself down. I quickly picked it up; letting the phone ring for very long was rude and bad service.

“Alola, this is Assistant Branch Chief Wicke of the Aether Foundation, how may we help you?”

“Wicke, baby, how are ya?” My facade fell.

“Guzma, long time no see?” I sighed through my nose. “Um, I’m fine I guess. I'm just about to leave work, how about yourself?”

“Wait, you mean you don’t live there?” I furrowed my brow.

“Why would I live here?” I asked, he seemed to stall.

“Ion know, I mean, Lusamine lives there so I figured you would too.”

“You’re close. Aether has an estate on a tiny island where I and some of the urgent-care workers live.” Just in case anything happened, Lusamine had built a fancy apartment building of sorts for workers to live on. There was Faba, the urgent-care workers, and some could apply to live there if they had special accommodations, such as length of commute or lack of housing thereof. She was generous with accepting the applications, there were a lot of rooms. Still, a lot of workers chose not to live there.

“Anyways, is there anything I can help you with?” I asked, taking a seat at my desk.

“Yeah, uh, wanted to know if you had a personal phone. Y’know, so I don’t have to call you every time I wanna talk to ya.” I raised my eyebrows.

“Are you asking me for my number?” I teased. He grumbled.

“Yeah, I’m more ova text kinda guy. Easier to get ahold of ya more.” He seemed slightly bothered by my question. I really hope I didn’t push him too far. I gave him my number, he thanked me and then hung up. I didn’t even notice that Cottonee had perched herself on my opposite shoulder, seemingly excited that I was talking to him. I rolled my eyes and scratched the side of her face which she eagerly leaned into.

“Okay silly, let’s go home.”

❉

I walked to the dock, seeing a few other workers waiting for the estate boat. One girl turned to look at me with a bright smile.

“I’ve been hearing about this Cottonee all day! You hatched the egg?” A few of the other workers looked over, one gasped, another  _ aww _ ’d. I nodded and looked down at her. She was looking around at everyone’s faces.

“I did, I went to Guzma and he cracked the egg open and she wriggled her way out.”

“You went to  _ Guzma _ ?” One of the workers emphasized, folding his arms. I pursed my lips and nodded slowly.

“He was very excited that it worked.” I decided to leave out the part that he wanted to parent her with me. They didn’t need to know and I didn’t want to know what they thought.

“Wait, you can crack eggs open?” The first girl said, holding her hand out to the pokemon. She sniffed her hand and relaxed, the girl took it as an invitation and gave her head a quick pat.

“Apparently so. It was very new to me too, goodness, I was shaking like a leaf when it happened.” Another girl approached me with a pokebean, Cottonee easily sprung from my arms to gobble it down. A few of them laughed, I smiled fondly. The boat pulled up, one of the workers asked if he could hold her and I said yes, and together we all climbed on.

“Where’s Faba, did he already leave?” I asked a boy who sat next to me. He nodded, explaining he left on the last boat. I hummed. The trip there was very exciting. A few of the workers released their own pokemon— with my approval— and were playing with Cottonee. A Rockruff barked at her a few times, tail wagging. An Igglybuff seemed very content just watching. A Lilligant was insistent on holding her and rocked her like a baby. Cottonee fell asleep in her arms. When we got to the island I took her back from the pokemon and slowly made my way to the elevator which took me to the top floor.

Being a branch chief had its perks. Faba and I both had our own penthouses at the top of the estate, next to each other and separated by a hallway. They both had glass walls on three sides, the fourth side had a wall that blocked me from Faba’s view and vise versa. It was nice to have the natural sunlight the room and it was even more ideal to watch the sunset and sunrise every day. Most of my furniture was provided when I moved in, all white furniture besides a few colored accent pillows I bought on my own time. There was a large painting of some of Alola’s ocean life on the wall that I loved to look at, it was a gift from one of the people whose pokemon we helped. His Lanturn was sick and he hadn’t a clue why, we helped him through the process and determined that it was lonely, to which he caught a Bruxish and that solved the problem. He made this for me to express his gratitude, a painting of a Lanturn and Bruxish, playing with each other around colorful coral.

That wall I had dedicated specifically to gifts I had received from working at Aether. A lot of personal letters, handmade crafts, toys, jewelry, plants (which I had pressed and framed to preserve their freshness), pictures of them with their pokemon. A few children had made me drawings when they came for field trips, I was always the one in charge of hands-on learning, they love it. All of it I treasured and took very seriously. It reminded me that I’m not in it for the money, I’m in it to make an impact.

I quietly crept up the stairs to place the sleeping Cottonee between a few stuffed animals I kept quiet about, then returned downstairs to let Bewear and Delibird out of their pokeballs. They instantly stretched and cheered with appreciation, considering I haven’t let them out all day. I waved them in closer to me and they instantly huddled around me.

“I’m sorry I haven’t let you guys out of your pokeballs at all today,” I whispered, “but the egg hatched. She’s sleeping upstairs, if you want to visit her  _ be quiet _ .” They looked at one another and instantly started creeping their way upstairs. I smiled as they left, then began to make dinner for the three— no, four— of us. They knew about the egg for a while and appeared as anxious as I was about hatching it. I failed to mention that the new addition to our team had another parent, something that I would bring up eventually… Hopefully tomorrow when all the excitement has died down. I remembered how tight Guzma’s grip was around me and shuddered. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling me, I feared that he would be making fun of me by roping me into this. Or worse.

By the time dinner was ready, Delibird and Bewear came downstairs yet Cottonee wasn’t present. I asked if she was still sleeping and they nodded. She had a big day today, I don’t blame her. We ate, then I took some pokebeans up to my room to find her sitting right next to the window, watching the sunset over the water. It was one of my favorite sights to see, and having this be one of her firsts made it all the more special to me. She must’ve heard the clicking of my heels and turned to see me, singing with glee upon my arrival and rushing over to me. I held out a few pokebeans to her, which after a quick sniff disappeared into her mouth. What a lovely little girl.

❉

As we were getting ready for bed, my phone buzzed.  _ It must be Guzma _ , I thought, and upon checking it I realized my hunch was right.

[  _ hey ma, it’s Guzma. just checkin in to see how Jumpy’s doing. _ ] She was watching Bewear groom himself, and before that she was prodding Delibird’s bag.

[  _ Hi Guzma. Cottonee is doing fine. She just met my pokemon and is about to go to bed with us :-)  _ ] I put my phone down to finish brushing my teeth. Before I was done my phone buzzed again. I checked it, toothbrush still in mouth.

[  _ damn u have pokemon? I’ve never seen or heard u mention them before, never heard any of ur grunts mention them either  _ ] I frowned and spit the toothpaste out of my mouth. They weren’t grunts, they were wonderful and obedient employees who brought very special qualities to the table. I sighed, pondering whether it was any of his business or not. If we were going to be committed to raising a pokemon together, then I might as well be friendly. I took a picture of Bewear starting to climb onto my bed, Delibird looking up at him and Cottonee looking very snug cuddled into the ice type. I hit send.

[  _ I only have Bewear and Delibird… and now Cottonee too so as you can imagine, it’s a big deal for us that she hatched.  _ ] Why was I telling him all this? It sounded so vulnerable when I looked back on it, and I felt my gut churn as I saw that he was typing. He sent a picture back. The flash was the only thing lighting this picture up, half of his face was cut off at the bottom and perched on top of his hair was the head of his Ariados. His eyes looked tired and glossy.

[  _ lol maybe tomorrow we can catch you some more  _ 😏 ]

[  _ I’ll pass, thank you for the offer. _ ]

[  _ when r u coming over anyway?  _ ]

[  _ Probably after work. _ ] I rinsed my mouth out then finished taking off my makeup.

[  _ damn i was hoping to see Jumpy sooner  _ 😔  _ i miss her _ ] I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes, making my way out of the bathroom and over to bed. Bewear and Delibird were coaxing Jumpy— Cottonee— into sleeping between them. She hesitated.

[  _ I get off at 3:00 tomorrow, will you be in Po Town? _ ]

[  _ i can be yeah  _ ]

[  _ Great! I’ll see you around 3:30 then. _ ]

[  _ we gotta catch you a pokemon that can learn teleport… i wanna see her soooonerrrrrr _ ] I sighed and smiled down at my phone. What a child. But thankfully, he did seem eager to see her, it gave me confidence that he was serious about this.

[  _ One pokemon at a time haha! I’m going to bed now, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Guzma  _ 🌙 ] I figured he would enjoy the addition of an emoji, I don’t normally use them. I waited on my phone until I got a text back from him. He was typing for a while until I realized he was taking a picture. He sent an image with the flash again, this time it showed more of his face, a little bit of his chest too. He was lying on his stomach, Ariados still on his back and Masquerain on top of him. Closer to the camera looked like the ears of a Liepard and farther back was the faint outline of his Golisopod, all of them resting or ready to do so. Guzma looked a little out of it too.

[  _ night ma, night Jumpy. see ya tomorrow toots _ ] I put my phone away and got under the covers. Jumpy had settled between Delibird and Bewear now, she was the first to doze off. Delibird looked like he was about to and Bewear looked worried about trying not to crush the two of them. I smiled and closed my eyes. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick headcanon: i really think that wicke should be the one to give out icium z :-/ she would've been such a cool captain. that's why i can see her having a delibird!


	3. Drampa Watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wicke and Jumpy pay Guzma a visit. He has plans for Wicke and won't take no for an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a bit longer than what i normally write! it's cute though it's worth it i promise

My phone buzzed.

[  _ it’s 3:00 _ . ] Thank you for stating the obvious, Guzma.

I was clocking out for the day and instead of taking the estate boat from the Foundation, I was paging a Lapras. This would be faster and easier to transport from here to Ula’ula Island and back to the estate. I was sure to text him that I was on my way, seeing as he was blowing up my phone all day. He was sending texts counting down the time and complaining that time wasn’t ticking down fast enough. I responded to a few of them in hopes it would quiet him down but it didn’t. It made me feel anxious to get there as soon as I could.

Jumpy— Cottonee— wasn’t in a pokeball yet, I hadn’t had time to let her choose which one she wanted. I told myself that if Guzma was this excited about her then he could catch her. But would that make her his pokemon? He said she was mine… I couldn’t believe I was getting so possessive over her in such a short amount of time.

The Lapras arrived, I climbed on board with Cottonee in arms. The Lapras took off towards Ula’ula Island and I found holding on a little difficult. Having one hand on a pokemon who could hardly fly and would be gone forever if I let go and holding onto the handles of the seat so we both didn’t go overboard was tricky. Of course, Ula’ula had to be the farthest region from Aether, but thirty minutes by Lapras was nothing to sneeze at. Jumpy certainly didn’t seem to mind, she was fascinated by her new surroundings. 

I had another little surprise for Guzma too: a rainbow pokebean. It increased affection a stupendous amount. If he wanted to be closer to her that was  _ the _ way to go about it. I don’t know how easily he has access to pokebeans, I thought I would bring it to him just in case, I’m sure he would appreciate it.

Lapras pulled up along the shore of the beach on Route 16. I wobbled off, instantly regretting not bringing an extra pair of shoes. I stroked his nose and fed him a pokebean as thank you and sent him on his way. Jumpy was a bit dazed after being on rough waters for so long and quite frankly I was too. I let Jumpy go to float along side me as I trudged through the sand, embarrassed that my heels sunk so easily into the ground. Upon reaching a paved road, it was a relief that I could walk. My phone buzzed.

[  _ wicke r u here yet???  _ 😩  _ i miss my baby hurry up  _ ] I grumbled.

[  _ I just arrived on the island. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Be patient _ ]

[  _ yes mom _ ] I immediately pocketed my phone. As long as it gets him to shut up. I paged a Charizard and a minute later he appeared, Jumpy immediately sped into my arms, burrowing her face into my chest. The Charizard snorted, looking to me for an explanation. I stroked his muzzle and reassured him it wasn’t his fault before we took off. This was much easier on my feet, Jumpy remained with her face firmly planted into my sweater. I scratched her head and sighed. She really needed a pokeball.

He let us off before the Po Town wall. I gave him a pokebean and rubbed his cheek, he leaned his face into my hand with a soft rumble. I bid him farewell and off he went, Jumpy reluctantly pried herself away from my chest. I held her in one arm and took my phone out with my free hand.

[  _ We’re here _ ] I pressed send and began walking towards the entrance. Before we could even get there, Guzma raced out. He was grinning from ear to ear and skidded to a halt at the sight of me.

“Jumpy!” She wriggled herself free from my grip and sped towards him. I’ve never seen her move so fast. She headed right for his face, right before I could say anything Guzma stumbled backward and had to force her away from his face. I muffled laughter behind my turtle neck and slowly walked towards the two of them who were suddenly completely unaware of my presence. Guzma was messing up the cotton atop her head, a few puffs floating out from her head, Jumpy was flapping around and trying to get herself closer to him. It was really sweet, quite honestly, to see the two of them so happy with one another. It was rare to see a pokemon have such an instant bond with someone, I wondered if it was because Guzma was the first person she saw when she hatched. Once Jumpy wrestled herself out of his arms and burrowed under his t-shirt, that’s when he directed his attention towards me.

“Wicke, I’m pregnant.” He looked so proud of himself, especially with Jumpy squirming around under his shirt, unsure of where to exit or what to do.

“When are you due?” I teased, gently placing a hand on his stomach, Jumpy instantly reacting to my touch and trying to nuzzle me through his shirt.

“Right now.” With that, he pulled her out from under his shirt and tossed her at me. I yelped in surprise and just barely managed to catch her, all the while he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side. “I honestly didn’t think you would come.” I huffed as Jumpy wriggled around to squeeze herself between the two of us.

“First of all, I never break a promise. Second of all, you need to be more gentle with her! She’s just a baby.” I hesitantly touched his hand to show that I wasn’t opposed to the hug, but I wouldn’t be the one to reciprocate it. He rolled his eyes and let go.

“She’s fine, we were jus’ rough-housin’.” He held his hand out to her and she fluttered into his arms. “Now com’on, I got plans for you, Ma.” He jutted his head towards the opening of Po Town, sauntering in with the expectation that I would follow. I sighed and trailed after him.

“I have a few things for you too, actually.” I added, he hummed in question.

“Like what?” He craned his neck to look behind me.

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted t--”

“Girl, walk next to me, not behind me.” I froze at the word ‘girl’. I hadn’t been a girl for a long time, I was very much a grown woman. It was definitely a pet peeve of mine, but some part of me insisted he meant no harm. I caught up to him so that I was next to him. He was content now. “Yeah, so what were you saying?”

“I was  _ saying _ ,” I continued, “that I was wondering if you wanted to catch Jumpy? I’ve yet to actually offer what pokeball she would want to stay in, I figured you would want to do something like that.” He looked impressed that I considered him in such decision making.

“Oh,  _ absolutely _ .” He looked down at Jumpy who was eagerly looking around her surroundings. He then looked to me, much more genuine this time. “I’m kinda surprised you’re calling her Jumpy now.” I flushed. I really was, wasn’t I? I pushed my glasses up my nose to distract myself away from my complexion.

“It caught on, I guess.” I cleared my throat. “I haven’t had time to think of any other names so I guess that’s why…” I had to force myself to look ahead of me rather than beside me, I could feel his eyes on me.

“Even after you said no?” He pressed, leaning down a little closer to me, Jumpy squeaked at the sudden movement. I instinctively looked at him and quickly looked away, unable to suppress a small smile.

“Don’t tease me, Guzma.” It came out more passively than I wanted it to, but it was enough to get him to chuckle and stop.

“Remember what I said about you catchin’ another pokemon with me?” I feared that he would bring that up, but I reluctantly fed into it.

“Yes, why?” We were at the door of the Shady Mansion now, he opened the door and allowed me to step inside first. I bowed my head and went in. He followed in after me and let it shut behind him.

“Let’s do it! I just wanted to stop here to get some of my pokemon before we go.” He seemed too adamant for me to talk him out of it, I still held up to my word.

“Guzma, I’d rather not.” I insisted, still standing right behind the entrance. Jumpy had wrung herself free from his arms and burrowed herself into his hood as he fished pokeballs out of his pokemon and started returning a few of them inside. He wasn’t listening.

“Why not?” He asked, looking at the pokeballs he just used for his Golisopod and Liepard, pulling out the one for his Bisharp as well. He pocketed the three of them again and started to head back towards the door. “It’s fun, let’s go.”

“I’ve never found it very fun,” I tried to defend but he was already out the door, holding it open for me to follow. I frowned and slowly exited as well. “I’d rather have a bond with them first, it always felt a little strange to me to catch a pokemon and expect them to warm up to you over time.”

“Then we’ll spend time with ‘em.” He shrugged, Jumpy slowly exiting his hoodie to perch herself on his head.

“With wild pokemon?” I cocked my eyebrow, he nodded and continued onward, beckoning me to follow.

“Yeah, it’s pretty fun. Don’t tell me you haven’t done the same at Aether, I know you have.” He scratched the back of his head below her. I was still unsure. He looked down at me, I looked up at him. I could tell he was trying to read my expression. “What’s your favorite pokemon?” I smiled at the question, avoiding his gaze.

“Nice try.” I brushed him off. “It’s gonna take a while to get there.”

“So you have one.” He got me there. “Which one is it?” He had stopped now, hands loosely in his pockets. He was serious about this, I had no doubt about it. I had no idea what to think about this, why was he so serious about helping me catch another pokemon? Why was it so important to him that we do it together?

“... Promise you won’t laugh.” I mumbled, his attention piqued.

“I won’t.” He sounded genuine, my shoulders relaxed.

“I’ve always really liked Drampa.” I cast my gaze aside. He snickered, my face instantly heated up. “I told you not to laugh!” He had a hard time convincing me he wasn’t.

“I’m not laughing because it’s a  _ bad _ thing,” he put his hands up in surrender, “Drampa’s a lot like you, that’s why I’m laughin’. It makes sense.” I didn’t want to believe him but I did. I suppose we both shared similar qualities; Drampas were very caring and willing to fight back if anyone hurt those they loved. I found comfort in relating to them for a long while, I was always jealous of kids who lived near them when I was younger, I would beg my parents to visit Mount Lanakila when I was younger to meet one. I saw one playing with the village kids one time, but I was much too shy to approach them.

“My favorite’s Wimpod.” He grinned and kept walking. “I relate to them a lot too.” He didn’t say anything more on the subject, I didn’t bother asking. He wanted to keep it vague.

“Are we really going to go all the way to Mount Lanakila?” I piped up after a few minutes of silence between us. We just kept walking, I trusted he was going in the right direction. He hummed.

“Hell yeah we are.” He grinned. “Field trip!” He punched the air, causing Jumpy to fumble to hold onto his head. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Can we at least take a bus there? My feet are starting to hurt.” I looked down at my shoes with a frown. I really needed to bring a different pair of shoes next time, or at least change into something else before I visited him again. Guzma cocked his head.

“Y’know, none of my grunts wore heels, I kinda forgot they were a thing…” He pursed his lips together then snapped his fingers. “I did have a few drag kings on the team, ain’t that neat? I caught them wearin’ heels sometimes, they were really good at walkin' in ‘em too-- I  _ never _ could. They never wore ‘em when they were on a mission though. Dude, we had such awesome parties together.”

“Really?” I was more shocked that none of his female grunts wore heels. “Wait, you’ve worn heels before?”

“Yeah!” He went on to explain the kinds of (questionable) shenanigans him and his team used to have. He talked proudly of them, it shone in his face and his voice, his hand gestures too-- he talked a lot with his hands. He explained how they were like family to him, and even after they formally disbanded he still had close contact with nearly all of them. I could relate to that, the workers at Aether were a lot like family to me too. There were a few who left for one reason or another that would email back and forth with me; connections were important. However, I felt that it was more of a work-based relationship over something as familiar as his experiences. It was really nice to hear about. His smile was contagious.

Before we knew it, we had reached the bus stop and called for a bus to pick us up. He continued to talk, waving his hands around and laughing away. The conversation drifted from his team onto pokemon he’s met and I participated more in that conversation. We got on the bus and sat down, all the while I was listening to how one time his grunts nearly drowned trying to wrestle a Magikarp, the biggest one he’s seen, he said. Jumpy had lazily floated out of his hair and onto my lap, nestling in and softly closing her eyes. He stopped talking for a moment to watch her drift off. I watched how his face softened at the sight of her. He relaxed in his seat and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants.

“Ya wanted me to catch her, yeah?” I nodded, softly stroking her head, she nuzzled my thigh in her sleep. He sighed through his nose and moved his hand around his pocket. “We can do it when we get there.”

“We?” I repeated. “Is it possible for two people to catch a pokemon at once?” He grinned.

“You overthink too much.”

❉

We got off the bus at the base of Mount Lanakila. I tipped the driver and we both ventured away from the bus stop. Jumpy had just woken up, trying to blink away sleep. Guzma stopped to pull an Ultra Ball out from his pocket and looked at me.

“Would this be a’ight?” He clarified, I nodded.

“It should be.” I held her out to the pokeball for her to inspect it. She sniffed around it then looked up at the both of us, confused. “You wanna go in there, little miss?” I asked, she flapped her leaves a few times before leaning towards the ball. Guzma tapped it on her head and in a flash of bright light, she disappeared inside. Guzma was still holding onto the ball as it shook back and forth. Once… Twice… Thrice… The circle turned red, indicating that she stayed safely inside. I sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness,” I stretched my arms out. “I’ve been waiting for that for a while.” I expected him to put her in his pocket, but instead, he held her out to me. I paused, then took it from him. That’s right, she was  _ my _ pokemon. He smiled, then clapped his hand over my shoulder causing me to jump.

“Fun ain’t over yet, missy,” he smirked, “we still got a Drampa to meet.” I gave in and smiled. It made me surprisingly warm and fuzzy inside to have him dead set on doing something for me. It made me feel special… It sounds odd to say, but after giving so much it’s a little surprising to have someone else give back to me in return. I’m never quite sure how to react. He pulled away from me slightly to get a look at my face. “Where are they anyways?”

“They’re typically at the top of the mountain,” I looked up, feeling a little doomed upon seeing how tall it was. “But they come down to the base to feed on berries during the day.” He looked up as well, his hand slowly falling from my shoulder.

“Well, let’s climb up ‘n stay at the base for a while. See who we can find.” He lead the way towards the steps, I followed quickly behind. He stopped for a second until I was at his side then continued. At the top of the steps was a small patch of grass, I was quick to notice a short rustling in one of the bushes. I jeered my neck to try and see what it was.

“Raticate,” Guzma answered, “don’t worry about him. I think you’ll know if we see a Drampa, they ain’t that tiny.” He snickered, I pursed my lips. I really hoped we would find one, I would feel awful if Guzma came all this way for me only for us not to find one. He sat down on the ground, resting his elbows on his knees. “Let’s stay here, wait to see if they’ll come to us.” I looked at him questionably but obediently sat beside him, tucking my legs to the side.

He pulled out his phone but I sat staring at the patch of grass. I remember my dad had a big Toucannon, his name was Jet. Dad used to battle using him a lot back in the day, he would tell me stories about it all the time, and whenever I begged him to come here Jet came with us to protect me. Sometimes he would urge me to catch a pokemon of my own so that we wouldn’t have to keep taking me here despite being of age to train pokemon and participate in trials. He knew I was never a huge fan of battling and would still reluctantly take me. Sometimes I think Jet liked coming here too, just so he could stretch his wings and do some more battling. He had a few nasty scars on his beak but that never stopped him.

Some time had passed and nothing out of the ordinary showed up. We saw a few Snorunt waddling out of the grass together and a Murkrow preening itself on a nearby tree. We heard a deep bark in the distance, followed by a powerful flapping sound. I turned immediately to Guzma.

“That’s a Drampa cry, I know it.” I sprung to my feet.

“Gee, you sure know your stuff, Ma.” He slowly rose as I walked towards the platform that would take us up the mountain a bit more. He climbed on board after me and we ascended. My heart was racing through my chest. It’s been a while since I saw a Drampa, the last one that came by the Aether Foundation was years ago. Even when I found Delibird here I wasn’t able to see one. I turned to look up at Guzma.

“I found my Delibird here,” I explained, fishing his pokeball out from my pocket. “We met on a mission I was tasked to. There was a bunch of Vulpix attacking trainers and they attacked him too. I took him back to the foundation and patched him up and he wanted to stay with me.”

“Did you find out why they were attackin’?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, I nodded.

“It’s pack leader was hurt by a poacher. We helped nurse him back to health and returned him to the mountain and sent out a warning for the area that any poachers will be prosecuted by police.” Mount Lanakila, along with several areas in Alola, held rare pokemon that were hunted for human gain. It depleted their population so specific areas became areas that would be protected by nearby trainers and authorities. Catching the pokemon was allowed in limited quantities that would have to be reported to the Pokemon Center, but murdering them was not. Guzma frowned.

“That’s too bad.” He sighed. “I hate bastards who pull shit like that.” He looked down and shook his head. I watched him for a moment before letting Delibird out of his pokeball. He chirped with glee upon being out but was stunned to see we weren’t alone. Delibird quietly waddled to the other side of me to be away from him, shooting him a look that said ‘don’t get any closer’. 

The platform arrived at the top and I was the first one off followed by Delibird then Guzma. Low and behold, two Drampa had their backs turned, faces rustling around in the grass. I just stood there and watched. They seemed so preoccupied and nonchalant, just seeing them was awe-inspiring. All I could really do was sit there and watch. Guzma placed his hand on my upper back and I gasped, loud enough to disturb a flock of Murkrow and send them flying. The Drampa looked back at us for a second, one of them returning to the grass as the other kept looking at us a while longer. Their head angled downwards at Delibird, who was skipping towards it. I tensed, Guzma’s hand fell. We both watched in silence.

Delibird stationed himself in front of the Drampa and dug around in his little sack, fishing out a Pecha berry. The Drampa leaned its big head down towards the tiny bird and sniffed it. With great caution, it gently took the berry into its mouth and began to chew. Pleased with the offering, Drampa let out a chuff and fell on his side next to Delibird, mouth open for more. Delibird chirped with glee and began fish more berries out of his bag and place them into his gaping maw. The other one cast a glance to the bird and with a swish of its tail, kept about its business.

“Well…” Guzma got close to my ear, I flinched in surprise. “Are you gonna go up to it?” He was bending down to talk to me, I felt like a little kid again-- and this time, just as shy.

“I-I don’t know, do you think they’d like me?”

“Girl, I mean it when I say you overthink too much.” He rose his body up and swiped underneath his nose. “Just go for it, what’s the worst that can happen? You have Delibird to defend you.”

My eyes widened and looked off to the side. Guzma stopped. “Why are you looking away like that?”

“Delibird has never battled before.” He took a sharp inhale and dug his hand around in his pocket.

“And  _ that’s _ why I brought my own pokemon with me.” He tossed me one of his pokeballs, I clumsily scrambled to catch it. “That’s Golisopod, he’ll take care of you if you need it.” He sounded bored, I felt bad. I looked at the Ultra Ball in my hands.

“You… You don’t have to stay here, you know.” I muttered. “Taking me here was enough, I’m so flattered that you would do something like this for me in the first place, it’s really sweet. I can’t ask for more from you.” I offered his pokeball back but he pushed my hand away.

“I don’t mind. When I say that you’re gonna catch a pokemon, I mean it. I don’t break my promises either, Missy.” He smirked, I sighed. I still felt guilty and his words did little to reassure me. However, I looked back towards the Drampa who laid as content as could be and approached. Lazily, it turned its head towards me and with an unenthusiastic snort, let me approach. I knelt down beside its head and dug around for a pokebean when it hit me. I still had the rainbow bean for Guzma, I would have to give it to him later. But I found a plain bean that it sniffed and licked out of my hand. I giggled. The wind from its snort to the size of its tongue was so fascinating, so surreal.

The Drampa’s eyes fluttered to a close, a soft snort of relief leaving its nostrils and a swollen belly in sight. Delibird kept on pulling berries out of his pouch for the Drampa, he was spoiling it. I gave his head a supportive scratch and looked over to Guzma, who was on his phone. I stood up, dusting the dirt from my skirt, then making my way over to him.

“Thank you so much for taking me here,” I bowed my head. “Here’s your Golisopod back, I really appreciate it.” He pocketed his phone and heaved himself to his feet with an arch of his back, arms tight in the air.

“Man, Ma. I’m tired.” He yawned, scratching the back of his head. I laughed as he took his pokemon from me and we headed towards the platform.

“It’s alright, you can go back home now.” I reassured.

“Thanks for your permission.” It came off as bitter, but his tone suggested it was sarcasm. I smiled and down we went. We caught the bus back to Po Town, the ride mostly quiet. I didn’t want to trifle him over details when he was tired. I didn’t bother hiding my smile the entire bus ride, even as Guzma murmured that he was going to rest his eyes, I kept on grinning.

We reached Po Town and I gently shook Guzma awake and tipped the driver. He dragged his feet after me, I was patient and matched his slow pace.

“You’re really tired,” I commented, clasping my hands together. “would you like me to walk you to your door?” That caught him by surprise. He shook his head and chortled.

“‘M good, Ma.” He rubbed his eye with the butt of his palm. “Sure you must be tired too, you had an excitin’ day.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and looked beyond his head.

“Oh, it’s alright. I guess you can say it got my adrenaline rushing, actually.”

“Yeah?” He sounded interested, I gave a short nod.

“Oh! Actually, before I go I wanted to give you this,” I pulled the rainbow bean out of my pocket and gave it to him. “This will increase Jumpy’s affection toward you, she loves pokebeans and this one is special. I wanted you to have it.” He inspected it and with pursed lips, he nodded.

“Noted… Wait does that meaaan…” He clasped his hands together and pouted, swaying slightly. I looked at him in question, then connected the dots of what I had just said. I sighed and handed him Jumpy’s pokeball.

“Yes, you can spend the night with her.” I didn’t even intend for things to go this way and quite honestly, I was hesitant. She wasn’t comfortable around bug-types, I only hoped that she had gotten a little braver since then. “But be nice! Make sure she’s fed and happy, you remember how she was when she was first hatched.” I put my hands on my hips. He was enamored with her pokeball, now looking more awake.

“She’ll be fine, Daddy’s gonna take good care of her.” He grinned, I scowled, he howled with laughter.

“Daddy  _ better _ or else Mommy’s gonna be pissed.” I hissed and crossed my arms over my chest. He seemed thrilled I was playing along. Part of me found it fun, another part found it unbearable and embarrassing.

“No worries, Ma.” He sighed, then straightened himself. I could see his shoulders still shaking, he found this absolutely hilarious. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” I fished the pager out of my purse and began to call for a Charizard. “Text me if anything comes up.” Guzma frowned and held his arms open.

“No hug?” He feigned innocence. I was thankful that Charizard showed up not a moment later and landed beside me. I smiled.

“Bye, Guzma.” I got on its back and asked Charizard to take me to the beach near Route 16. I could feel myself brimming with pride upon seeing his defeat. He waved bye and sauntered back into the walls of Po Town. And off we went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guzma: on his phone  
me: it's a surprise tool that will help us later


	4. New Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Workers at Aether are starting to find out that Wicke and Guzma are seeing each other, and while that alarms her, it doesn't stop her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay few things:  
skittychat is pretty much sn*pch*t but they're not paying me to advertise them so i'm not going to  
also i honestly don't know how much i'm gonna reference it later on? i wanted to put it in to show that wicke is slowly warming up to trying more new things but it honestly doesn't feel like something she would use so it may also begin to represent her fondness for routine... idk we'll see, just bare with me

After a Lapras ride back to the Estate, I was instantly met by one of the workers as I walked through the door. There was a lounge before the elevators where lots of workers hung out before retiring to their rooms, it was always busy. This one, a sweet young lady named Myley, rushed right up to me, eyes brimming with hope.

“Wicke!” She cheered, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I was waiting for you, I wanted to ask you something. I frowned and gently placed a reassuring hand on her upper arm.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting. What is it?” I asked.

“Can we bake some cookies before work tomorrow? Our shifts start at the same time so we’d be able to do them together. Please? We haven’t made anything in such a long time.” She pouted. I smiled and nodded.

“Of course we can, I’m always happy to make food with you guys. I’ll send out an email before anyone wants to join us. I assume you want to meet up at 4 AM?” She nodded.

“Sounds perfect, I’ll set my alarm then! Thank you so much, Wicke!” She wrapped her arms around me in a tight squeeze, I laughed and gave her a hug back.

“I’ll see you then,” I pulled away, “I’m sorry to cut this short but I had a long day, I’m a little tired.” She reassured me that it was no problem and returned back to her group of friends. I went for the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.

The workers loved to make meals with me. One of them caught me making a batch of cookies in the Estate’s kitchen one time and asked if they could help. We made them together and word got out and I had several of them asking if they could make some with me too. We made other things too. One time, we made berry salad and another we made pasta with alfredo sauce and roasted vegetables, enough to feed the two dozen people who helped out. I found it was a great way to bond with the workers and get to know more about them while interacting with them outside of a work environment. I found it made working with them much more smoother and built a lot of relations between us, Lusamine often asked me to make food with the Estate workers when morale was low. She never participates no matter how many invitations I extend.

I made dinner for my pokemon and I-- a simple grilled cheese with Oran Berry slices-- and started getting ready for bed. I may have gotten off early but I stayed out late, the sun was almost done setting. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, washed my face, got changed, then sent out the email. I thought I was done until I realized a certain absence. _ I should probably check up on them _, I grabbed my phone and sent Guzma a text.

[ _ Hey! How are things? _ ] Bewear and Delibird climbed into bed with me. Bewear looked confused that Jumpy wasn’t with them but Delibird chirped an explanation at him. He grumbled and settled into bed, Delibird curled up to his chest. I got a text back.

[ _ fine, we’re just chillin _ ] It was accompanied by a picture of Jumpy looking at the screen and the lower half of Guzma’s face buried into the back of her head. I smiled.

[ _ Good! I’m so happy to hear :-) Have you fed her the rainbow bean yet? _ ]

[ _ yeah she loved it, wouldn’t get away from my face for an hour lol _ ] I giggled.

[ _ Aww! That’s so sweet. I’ll be going to bed now but I just wanted to check in on you two. Goodnight! _ ]

[ _ kinda early but goodnight ma, Jumpy says night 2 _] I smiled and set my phone down on my nightstand and began to settle into my pillow. It was such a long day, I was almost happy it was over. Reflecting back on it, it was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I forgot I missed seeing Drampa, and being able to feed one was something I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of doing. And it was all thanks to Guzma… He made it possible. I grabbed my phone.

[ _ One last question, sorry! Do you like cookies? _]

❉

I was in the kitchen at 3:30 helping to get all the ingredients ready for when people started trickling in. Flour, butter, eggs, milk, chocolate chips… all of it. I had gotten two emails back saying they could come, others replied that it was too early for them. I always emphasized that sleep was important, I would never hold this against them. Myley had come ten minutes early and smiled softly.

“Good morning,” She whispered, rubbing her eyes. She was still in her pajamas but awake enough to notice what she was doing. I returned the smile.

“Good morning, Myley. Would you like to set the oven for me?” I asked, pulling two baking sheets from a pile we kept in one of the cabinets. She hummed and walked over to it.

“350, right?” I replied that it was right and she set it. After that, she got herself an apron and tied her hair into a loose ponytail. A few minutes had passed before two young men showed up, their names Leo and Edgar respectively. Leo had his arms stretched over his head as he waltzed in.

“Wicke, I missed baking with youuu.” He sang as he grabbed an apron. “Why’d you stop for so long?” I got sheepish.

“Probably because I was so preoccupied with the egg, I suppose I got sidetracked.”

“The egg could’ve helped us cook!” Edgar reasoned, we laughed.

“Alright,” I clapped my hands together. “I have all the ingredients ready, just measure them out and do your thing. I’ll be washing dishes this time around, okay?” They nodded and got right to work. Myley was helping them out, she cooked with me the most so they saw her as the one to follow. I filled both sides of a sink with hot water. They idly chatted among each other, asking if this was the right amount and teasing each other to add more sugar or chocolate chips, much to Myley’s giggling disapproval. They whispered about sneaking a few extra chips in and she let it slide. I started to hear two voices, one of them had died out. I looked over my shoulder to see that Edgar was struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Edgar, do you want to go back to bed?” I asked, he struggled to look at me. Leo encouraged him to and he rubbed his eyes.

“Save me som’ cookies, okay?” We agreed, he hung up his apron and trudged out. I frowned.

“I hope he gets to his room okay. It would be frightening to have a body lying on the floor as others start to wake up.” I looked to the two of them suggestively. Myley perked up.

“I’ll help him to his room!” She offered, hanging her apron and jogging after him.

“Thank you, Myley!” I called after her, and then it was just Leo and I. He looked over to me.

“Hey, can you help me scoop out cookies? I suck at making them all even.” I nodded and dried my hands, making my way over to the side of him and getting a portion scoop.

“If you use one of these, it’ll be easier than using your hands.” I offered, he shook his head.

“You’re always keeping me in check, Wicke.” He wiped his batter-y hands on his apron and began to use the scoop. I was able to use my hands since I’ve done this a few dozen times before, making them even was easier for me. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, then looked over to me.

“Can I talk to you about something?” I paused, looking over to him.

“Yes, of course you can, Leo. Is everything alright?” He never asked for something like this before, I could feel myself growing more and more concerned by the second.

“Yeah, no I’m fine,” he reassured, “like honestly. I just saw something I wanted to talk to you about. I’m friends with an ex-Skull grunt, he’s saying that you and Guzma have been hanging out recently, is that true?” I froze. How did he find that out? Were some of his grunts spying on us? I was getting too nervous about this, it’s not like hanging out with him was some scandal. I relaxed and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.” I scooped some of the dough out of the bowl and rolled it into a ball. “But I’ll tell you this: my relationships with others are kept outside of Aether. He’s rather sweet, I’ve known him for a while.” That was half true. I heard about him and then met him when I needed a favor. He reluctantly agreed, then something happened and we were back at square one. I was so hesitant about all of this because I did _ not _want my trust betrayed again. He seemed to be proving himself well so far.

Leo chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’ll stay out of your hair about it, just wondering. Hey, do you have Skittychat?”

“What’s Skittychat?” I asked, looking over at him as I continued to shape the dough.

“It’s this app where you send photos to people with text on it and then it disappears once you close out of the picture.” He was almost done with the bowl, I chose to let him scoop out the rest. “It’s kinda fun, you can post pictures that people can see that last a day or so, it’s kind of like a picture-life-update thing. Am I making sense?”

“I think I understand.” I gnawed at the inside of my cheek in thought. “What’s the purpose of the pictures going away?” He shrugged.

“Beats me, but it’s different from what you usually see. A lot of people have it, especially here.” He was hinting at something. I didn’t know if I should think too deeply about it.

“Do you think I should get it? Oh here, let me put those in the oven for you.” I put on an oven mitt and opened the oven, putting both trays in one at a time. I closed it then set the timer. Leo went to wash his hands then quickly whipped out his phone.

“Yeah, you totally should! I know a lot of the workers here would _ love _ to have you as a friend on here. Here’s mine.” He handed me his phone to show me a little avatar and a username beneath it. I fumbled around for mine, finding it in the pocket of my pajama pants. I paused.

“You don’t think it’s weird or too… interpersonal to have one of your bosses as a contact?” I asked, he waved it off.

“You? No. Faba and Lusamine? Yes. You’re the favorite, Wicke.” I rolled my eyes and dismissed that statement with a wave of my hand.

“Please, they’re friends of mine! But if you don’t mind then… I’ll get it.” I downloaded it and signed up under the username wicke8 and registered him as a friend. He taught me how to use it, how to send a picture and add text to it when Myley came back. Leo explained what we were doing and she was just as eager to have me as a friend on Skittychat as well. I felt so flattered. I had a lot of questions like what context do I send the pictures under and what is “story-worthy”, they brought up something called a streak and I asked what that was too. They were so helpful and kind about it-- I was always slow with technology so their help was a great comfort to me.

The cookies were done, we must’ve lost track of time. I helped take them out of the oven and put them both on a cooling rack as the two of them started to take cookies off the sheets. Myley pleaded that I put it on my story and I awkwardly obeyed. I took a picture of the two of them at work and wrote “Made cookies!” beneath them. It still felt foreign to me.

“And people don’t think it’s weird that I’m just taking a picture of you guys doing something?” I asked, they shook their heads no.

“People do it all the time, it’s kind of what’s _ expected _ to be put on Skittychat… Just kind of a daily record of what you did that day.” It all clicked for me.

“Oh! I think I get it now, that made a lot of sense, thank you!” I cheered, the two of them looked accomplished. All of the cookies were put onto plates and I told them to take a few each, which would leave some for Edgar and I. Most of my cookies were going to be given away but that wasn’t the point. I shooed them off to get ready for the day, saying that I would worry about getting these clean when they had cooled down. They left and I waited around for a few minutes to let them get a little cooler so I could touch them then rinsed them off with cold water to chill them completely. I washed them once I could handle them and dried them, putting them away as I packaged about five cookies and took one for myself, packaging the other six and leaving them by Edgar’s door. I hoped nobody would steal them. I went back to my place and got dressed, heading back down to start my day.

It was funny how even though my day was only starting, I couldn’t wait for it to end. I couldn’t wait to have Guzma try some of the cookies and see Jumpy again.

❉

I made a note to go back to my room and change into something more practical before heading to Guzma’s. A blouse and jeans were fine, I thought, I didn’t have very many casual clothing so this was as good as it was going to get. I looked to my favorite pair of flats, but upon remembering the sand I opted for a pair of sandals. I grabbed the cookies, sent Guzma a text, and then I was off.

The ride felt much shorter without a trembling Cottonee in my arms. Not that I minded it, of course, I never minded being a maternal figure to others, I enjoyed it even. But it did make balance a lot harder. I rewarded Lapras once we reached the beach, then I paged a Charizard to fly me over to Po Town. The sky was starting to turn shades of pink, the clouds looking like true cotton candy. They were just overhead, maybe it was possible to eat them… I giggled to myself. It’s just water vapor, I don’t think it would taste like much.

We arrived outside the wall and I gave the Charizard a pat then sent him on his way. I opened my phone to send Guzma a text, only to have a ball of fluff fly into me. I yelped and stumbled backward as the mass nuzzled itself into me. It was just Jumpy, I laugh to myself, and wrapped my arms around her lovingly. She cried out in glee.

“Hi baby girl!” I cooed, she mewled back, flapping her leaves around wildly. Now I think I knew how Guzma felt. I looked up, expecting him to be there and he was nowhere to be seen. I pursed my lips and started to head towards the entrance. I figured the two of them were as thick as theives, to have him be separated from her was almost concerning. Almost. I stand at the entrance gates, Jumpy settling into my arms.

“Guzma?” I called out, slowly stepping in. Maybe he was in the mansion? I paused, then started to head there. After my third step, two hands roughly grabbed my shoulder with a shout.

“Gotcha!” I screamed and tried to wrestle myself out of those hands, only to have a pair of arms wrap around the front of my shoulders. It wasn’t until a chin perched itself beside my face that I knew who it was.

“_ Guzma! _ ” I slapped his arm and broke free of his grip, he cackled with pride, bent over at the middle. “You scared the _ shit _ out of me! S-Stop laughing!” Jumpy had floated out of my arms, somehow unphased by the scare, and watched the two of us. Guzma’s laughter got deep as he raised his hands above his head.

“Oh shit! Oh fuck! Ma’s mad! Ma swore!” He jokingly backed up, I groaned and crossed my arms over my chest.

“You’re such a bully. And here I was going to give you some cookies I made, maybe your pokemon will enjoy them.” I gave him the shoulder and turned tail towards the mansion. He scrambled after me to stop me in my tracks.

“No, Wicke please I’m sorry I didn’t mean it. Please I want your cookies I didn’t mean it I l--”

“Okay, you’re forgiven.” I held them out to him and he reached to grab them but I jerked them from his hands before he had a grip on them. “Just as long as you promise not to do that again.” He pouted and rolled his eyes, snatching the cookies from my hand.

“I promise.” He stuck his tongue out at me and popped the container open, pointing back towards the exit. “Com’on we’re going back to Mount Lanakila.”

“Again?” I sounded a little too hopeful, he nodded and popped a whole cookie in his mouth.

“Yeah,” He spoke with a mouthful of food, “We’re gun’ go back n meet da Dwampa ‘gan.” I frowned.

“Don’t eat with your mouth open.” I scolded but quickly softened. “But… thank you.”

Jumpy stayed out of her pokeball for the entire bus ride where he told me about their night together. First, he explained how she was terrified of all his Bug-types, but took a strong liking after his Bisharp who helped her relax around them.

“I had a few friends over last night,” he swallowed his fourth cookie. “They loved her, she played with their pokemon for a bit. One of ‘em was a bit rough with her and she just snuggled up to me and Bisharp for the rest of the night.”

I frowned. “Is she okay?” He nodded, wiping crumbs from the corner of his mouth.

“She’s fine, she survived. Just a few scratches from a Rockruff is all. Oh, I know you're not big on battling but can I battle train her?” I furrowed my eyebrows together.

“I don’t know, Guzma.” I hesitated, watching her as she watched the scenery outside the window. “If she wants to then I guess that’s fine, but you’ve seen how scared she can get. How do you know she won’t run instantly?”

“That’s why she needs training.” He urged, I shook my head.

“Wait until she shows interest.”

“Alright.”

❉

We tipped the driver and got off, a roar above us that caused Guzma to point up, I followed his hand with my eyes.

“That’s a Drampa call, right?” He asked, I nodded.

“You catch on fast.” I smiled, and up we went. Just to have Guzma beside me and offering to take me to do these things was really something I couldn’t describe. I never really thought that he would have fun doing this with me, I still doubted it. I sensed that there was some hidden motive behind this but I didn’t want to dwell on it. I was happy, I hoped he was too.

At the top was the same Drampa from yesterday, nosing the tall grass for more berries. Upon noticing that we were there, he perked up and dashed over. I stepped closer to Guzma for safety, mainly because the ground shook with each gallop taken closer to us. Surprisingly, Guzma shifted his weight on his leg so he stood in front of me. Drampa skidded to a halt and gave a low moan, Jumpy looked interested.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” I asked, watching his eyelids droop over his eyes. It wasn’t a sign of tiredness, rather sadness. He groaned again, looking back towards the trees to a group of Murkrow and a Honchkrow in a tree, cawing proudly over a horde of berries it had found. I frowned and looked to Guzma.

“They took his berries…” I watched his shoulders tense.

“Buncha fuckin’ bullies…” He spat under his breath, hand digging around in his pocket. Before he could pull out a pokeball, Jumpy was already out of my arms and floating towards the flock. My heart sunk. Flying-types were super effective against grass-types. Guzma noticed it too and froze in his spot. “Holy shit.”

Jumpy had approached the birds, all of their eyes on her, almost hungrily so. It looked as if she were talking to them, hopefully trying to convince them to give the berries back. Realistically, if they had taken the berries from Drampa in the first place they wouldn’t be so willing to give it back. However, one picked up a berry in its beak and offered it over to her. She was about to take it before it threw the berry up and swallowed it whole. The flock cackled at that, I looked to Guzma desperately.

“Maybe I should call her back, Bewear can take c--”

“No.” He relaxed a little and took another step in front of me to block me off from her. “Let’s wait ‘n see what happens.” I pursed my lips. I didn’t know if it was such a good idea, but he was very good at giving me little choice. Maybe I could learn something from him.

Jumpy stayed still for a few moments, but not a while before she started flapping her leaves, and a pink gust of wind sprayed against the flock. They opened their wings in surprise, trying to maintain balance, two of them flying up from the tree. In their shock, Jumpy had snatched a few of the berries and zipped over to Drampa. Drampa was watching the whole thing, picking its head up from the ground and opening its jaws. Jumpy dropped the berries into his mouth.

It would’ve been nice if that was the end of it, but that angered the flock, and they all charged towards the two of them.

“_ Jumpy! _” I screamed, but not before a high-pitched screech came from Drampa’s mouth. I covered my ears, but the noise seemed like enough to stop the birds in their tracks and, thankfully, sent them flying the other way. I relaxed. Guzma threw his arms around me.

“Wicke, did you fuckin’ see that? Holy _ crap _! Jumpy blasted those bastards outta their wits, did you see her?” He was hollering right in my ear, jostling me around in all his excitement. I endured all of it, keeping my eyes on Jumpy and Drampa as they went back to the tree to retrieve the rest of the berries.

“That was… Fairy Wind, right?” I looked up to him, the question grounded him. He let me go and took off his sunglasses to run his hand through his hair.

“I think so, yeah!” He was all smiles, just watching the two. Drampa shared some of his berries with her. “She did that, _ all by herself _.” He whipped his head toward me. “Does that mean…?” I sighed.

“At her own pace, Guzma.” He was satisfied with my answer. Jumpy returned to us once the berries were finished, mewling with content. Guzma held his arms open to her, she immediately flew into his chest.

“Jumpy! You did it! Oh, who’s my brave girl?” She chirped in response. “That’s right, you are! You are!” I just stood there watching the two of them with a grin plastered across my face. Cute… Before I knew it, Drampa had trudged over to me and laid his head back on the ground before me. He was looking right at me, I smiled and pet between his eyes.

“You had an exciting time too, huh?” I asked, a soft chuff rumbled through his throat. I giggled. Guzma propped his hand on his hip, Jumpy squeezed between his torso and arm.

“He likes you, Wicke.” He said. “He trusts you too. I can see it in his eyes.” I took a deep look at them. They were rounded with love, not fierce and intimidating. My hand rounded the side of his face to scratch his cheek, he leaned into my hand, I had a hard time matching his strength. I looked back to Guzma, he met my gaze and then shook his head.

“So? Whatcha lookin’ so happy for?”

“Thank you, Guzma.” I said, Drampa softly pressing his muzzle into my chest with a snort of hot air.

“You’re welcome…” He looked just as soft as the Drampa. We looked at each other for several seconds, before he looked to the side and cocked his head upwards. “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Catch him.” I rummaged around, finding a Luxury Ball and tapping it against the side of his face. He disappeared inside in a flash of light. The ball twitched three times before the center glowed red. I picked it up and stared at it. This was the moment I had been waiting for ever since I was a little girl. I turned to Guzma and sped towards him. Alarmed by my speed, his eyes widened, I could feel his muscles tensed as I wrapped him into a great big hug.

“Guzma, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I felt Jumpy flutter around us with a cry of glee, and slowly his hands on my back, one moving in small circles.

“You’re welcome.” His voice was deep and quiet, I could hear the kindness in his tone.

❉

I couldn’t describe how thankful I was that Drampa knew fly. Guzma was the first to suggest that we use it to fly back to Po Town, I replied that Jumpy would have to stay in her pokeball, to which he responded by placing her in his sweatshirt and zipping it up all the way just so her eyes could peek out of his hoodie. I rolled my eyes, making him swear he’ll hang on to her, and off we went. Flying on the back of a Drampa was so much different than anything I’d ever felt before. It felt like floating rather than soaring, it was gentle and relaxing. I could easily say I prefer this to the back of a Charizard.

Guzma insisted that he sat in front of me and that I hold on, something about how that’s how it was for motorcycles. I had my arms wrapped around his waist, his arms keeping a steady hold on the back of his neck. I could vaguely hear him say something to me over the wind around us, I kept quiet, just watching the clouds pass by. I was beginning to feel that I was too old for Guzma’s level of energy or excitement, but I wouldn’t deny that I was eager to see him again tomorrow.

Drampa landed inside the walls of Po Town, flapping up dust as he slowly landed. Guzma slid off with Jumpy snuggly inside his hoodie. He said he would keep her for the night again, she didn’t oppose so I didn’t either. We said our goodbyes and took back off. I was thankful that Drampa agreed to fly all the way to the estate, much faster than the back of a Lapras. I instructed him to land on the patio, which he did, but not before moving some of the furniture several meters with the strength of his wings.

He looked around and settled down in the clearing he just made, looking content with all his hard work. I stepped off and headed straight for his head, making sure to give him a good long pet.

“You did so well, darling.” I whispered, he purred and closed his eyes. I fed him a few pokebeans which he gobbled with ease before he settled his muzzle underneath his wing with a hard sigh and a groan. I stroked the side of his neck as he fell asleep and just sat beside him. Yeah… He was my pokemon now. I knew Dad would be proud.


	5. He's grown but hasn't changed at all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wicke reflects on past experience with Guzma then compares him to this present state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for medical shots and light mentions of abuse

“So… Who’s Guzma?” One of the workers asked me as I checked off a list of pokemon who needed their shots updated. I couldn’t help but wonder just how much word had spread about us since yesterday.

“Former leader of Team Skull,” I responded, not looking up from the clipboard, “used to work alongside us for a short period of time. After he went into a Wormhole alongside the President, he disbanded the team.”

“Sounds scary.” She frowned, gently rubbing the back of a Slowpoke in her lap. I filled a needle with medicine and approached the two of them, crouching down and rubbing a disinfectant wipe over his left thigh.

“He  _ looks _ scary.” I smiled to myself as I quickly gave him the shot, whispering words of encouragement once he was done. She laughed at that.

“You two still hang out?” She sounded interested, almost like she was trying to get at something. I discarded the shot in one of the sanitary waste bins mounted on the wall and tugged my gloves a little farther down my wrists.

“Occasionally,” I confess, looking over the list of who was next. “He’s… changed.” I was forcing myself to admit that. I didn’t know if he had changed yet, I was only getting closer to him. But would that mean that since he was allowing me to get close that was proof enough of his change? No matter how hard I try, I can never shake the image of seeing his face at Aether the first time. The anger I felt… “Up next is Marrill, the teeny tiny one, do you know who I’m talking about?”

“Oh, you mean Marrill-256?”

“Precisely,” I looked up at her, “do you memorize all the pokemon by their tags?” That seemed to embarrass her, she grinned it off.

“Ah, y-yeah, that’s the only way I can tell the difference between them all!” She rubbed the back of her neck and stood, excusing herself to go fetch the Marrill. I watched her leave, my heart was sinking the more I thought about the second time I saw him.

_ “What the  _ ** _hell_ ** _ do you think you’re doing here?” I cornered him, his back against the inside door of the research closet. _

_ “Why are you here?” He sounded confused, I couldn’t see his face in the darkness. _

_ “Cut the motherfucking bullshit, Guzma. What are you doing here?” _

_ “I’m here to meet up with Lusamine, she offered that Team Skull and Aether join forces.” _

_ “You  _ ** _idiot_ ** _ .” I hissed and slapped the side of his arm. He flinched. “Gladion is her son. The one I told you to keep away from her.” He got quiet. Don’t tell me he forgot. _

_ “He’s going to be safe.” He sounded like he was desperate. _

_ “No, he’s not, Guzma. I told you to keep him away from her, that was the deal. And now you’re working with her?! She’s going to find him and only the Guardians will know what will happen to him.” More importantly, what would happen to me? _

_ “She’s not going to find out,” I could see movement in the dark, I instinctively stepped back. “I promise. The grunts won’t say a thing about him, and if they do, they’re finished.” _

_ “Why are you working with her?” My voice was quiet now, weak, strained. There were several moments of silence between us. I waited for an answer, the more I didn’t get one the more I wanted to cry. _

_ “She sees the good in me.” _

_ “Bullshit.” _

_ “She knows how strong I am, how I’m the strongest Alola has ever known and she wants to help me.” _

_ “Bull. Shit.” _

_ “ _ ** _She’s the only one who’s believed in me--_ ** _ ” _

_ “ _ ** _I believed in you!_ ** _ ” _

“Is he nice?” I snapped out of my thoughts to see she had returned with the right Marrill. I took a deep breath and prepared the next shot.

“At times, yes.” I was sure to be vague, I was still shaken up over the memory. “Why do you want to know so much about him?” I knelt by the Marrill and sterilized the area. Her attention seemed to wander but snapped back when Marrill wriggled in her lap.

“I mean, if he’s worthy of your attention then he can’t be that bad, right?” I couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, you should know better than to sugar an old lady up, don’t you?” I stood and disposed of the shot, looking back to the list.

“How old are you?”

“The next pokemon is a Drowzee-- Drowzee-512, do you know the one?”

“O-Oh yes! Sorry, I’ll be right back with him!” And with that, she left. I thought about what she said. Was he nice? I mean, he was. He was very nice… 

_ I was shouting, we both were, and once I realized it I tried to soften my tone but to no avail. “I knew you were the only one who would be able to help Gladion! He needed to be kept away from his sister or else they would be easy to find.” I had started crying without realizing, I had no control over it. “I knew you could protect him, she doesn’t care about those kids! I’ve seen the way they look at her, they’re terrified of her, Guzma. They’ve told me… unspeakable things they’ve suffered at her hands and I needed to help them! I trusted you!” I had to stop, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stop crying. _

_ I didn’t notice Guzma’s hand on my shoulder, how he pulled me into him, and once I did, I felt too weak to stop him. _

“Here he is! I’m sorry about the question earlier.” Drowzee seemed insistent on sitting in her lap, I could tell he was too heavy for her to handle, so I was sure to prepare the next dose with haste. I knelt beside his thigh, sanitized, then administered the shot, he grunted and budged, but she was careful to play with his hands. I was very thankful. I stood once it was all over and disposed of it.

“That’s the last of the list, thank you so much for your help, dear!” I checked him off the list and peeled my gloves off, turning around to look at her. Drowzee pushed himself off her lap and rubbed his thigh, his other hand still in hers.

“Of course! Hey, um, I have one more question…” She seemed reluctant. I figured it was still about Guzma.

“You can always ask me anything, I’m here for you.” I reassured, throwing the gloves away and leaning back against the counter.

“You’re so forgiving and kind and patient… How do you do it?” At that, I had to stop and think. I prodded my cheek with my tongue and gripped the counter behind me.

“That’s a good question,” I sighed and looked upon her with a smile, “you have to learn how to love and how to accept the love of others. I know it may sound odd, but learning to love and be loved in return is the most important thing you can do. Learn to appreciate the little things around you and slowly that gratitude will spread to those around you. It will take time but in that time, you will learn to forgiveness, kindness, and patience.” She beamed.

“Thank you so much, Miss Wicke…! You’re so wise!” Drowzee seemed ready to leave and she took quick note of it. “Oh, I should get going, I don’t want to keep you for very long. Thank you! Goodbye!”

“Bye-bye!” I waved to her on the way out.

_ Before I knew it, I felt his breath against my ear as he whispered something to me. I choked on my sob, but started to calm down. I felt the same way, that same force inside of me urged me to do it. I knew I would regret it later, but I did it. _

_ His arms swallowed me into him and I was putty in them. And just like that, we calmed down. He left not a moment later. I had to wait in there for a few minutes until suspicion had gone away, then I left and forced myself to continue about my day. _

I had never held anybody like that since then.

❉

Guzma had begged me to come over so I went. I wanted to make sure Jumpy was okay too. Drampa had landed inside of Po Town, I had noticed how Guzma stood by the wall opening, surprised that I didn’t meet him there. As I slid off of my pokemon, I could see the pride on his face, it almost made me shy.

“You’re really gettin’ attached, huh?” He smirked, I rolled my eyes.

“Alola to you too.” He scoffed and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. I looked around. “Where’s Jumpy?”

“Sleepin’,” he replied, taking a moment to look around. “Hey, actually. You come here all the time, would you ever want me to come to you?” I hesitated.

“Some of the Aether workers are still a little wary of Team Skull, I don’t want your presence to cause an upset.” That seemed to bother him. His face fell and he nudged a rock with his foot.

“I was an asshole back then,” he muttered, “I don’t wanna be like that anymore. I wanna…” Drampa had looked at him too, two pairs of eyes on him may have caused a bit of pressure, he faltered. “Y’know…” I decided to finish the sentence for him.

“Be a good father?” He stared at me, dumbfounded, then cackled. I was relieved.

“Yeah, I disbanded Team Skull just for Jumpy. Now c’mon, I wanna show you somethin’.” He bobbed his head towards the Shady Mansion, and off we went. Drampa slowly trudged behind, looking down at all the abandoned houses surrounding the path. I can’t say I’ve ever seen him make himself vulnerable like that, so open and true to himself. Part of me wondered if he was being honest or just trying to put on a show for sympathy. I wanted to think it was the first, I really shouldn’t be doubting him so much, it’s unfair to him. I looked at the red cross on the back of his hoodie, not very long before he turned around and waited for me to walk next to him. I smiled.

Sometimes, I wonder if he remembered what happened.

Once inside, I found his Bisharp sitting carefully on the beat-up couch with Jumpy carefully perched in his arms. She was sleeping away, leaves twitching occasionally in her slumber.

“She’s had a long day today.” He alluded, sitting carefully next to his pokemon. I turned around to look at Drampa, who kept his muzzle in the door. He wanted to come in but unfortunately, the doorway was too small. I pet his snout, he sighed at my touch.

“What did you two do today?” I asked, watching as he took Jumpy out of Bisharp’s arms. It caused her to stir, her eyes slowly blinking open and stretching her leaves. The first one she noticed was Guzma, but as Drampa recognized her and chuffed, Jumpy mewled and zoomed over, bumping noses with the other. She noticed me last, and zipped right into my arms, nuzzling anywhere she could reach. I giggled and scratched her side which she eagerly leaned into.

“Let me show you,” Guzma stood up from the couch and signaled that he was going outside. Drampa moved his face and walked backward a few paces, leaving plenty of room for the three of us to come outside. Jumpy was quick to wriggle free from my arms and float by Guzma, waiting for something. I stood by Drampa and waited; I had a feeling I knew where this was going but I kept quiet. He looked over at me to make sure I was watching, then without further ado, said, “Jumpy, show Mom your Sunny Day.”

Jumpy hummed and turned bright, that same brightness being shot into the sky. The sun suddenly felt a lot hotter, the air thicker, my clothes felt heavier. I started to fan myself but Guzma wasn’t done.

“Now use Growth!” Jumpy concentrated her energy, I watched her grow in size before my eyes. If I remembered this move correctly, it worked to raise attack and special attack, but…

“Sunny Day increases the attack and special attack by double right?” I asked, pulling at my sweater collar. He grinned and nodded.

“You got it, Ma. We did some training today and I found my old Sunny Day TM, and once Jumpy learns Solar Beam this is gonna come in handy!” He grinned, wrapping Jumpy into his arms and knuckling her head. She cheered and flapped around, I smiled.

“I’m so glad to see that she’s enjoying herself,” I sighed, “but do you have a pokemon who knows Rainy Day? It’s too hot out now…” He looked up at the sun, flinching when it hurt his eyes and shielded his eyes.

“Eh, you’ll be fine.” He seemed reluctant to go back inside, I huffed.

“It’s not polite to make a lady stand out in the hot sun, especially after you make it hot, Guzma.” I scolded, that's when he looked at me with an equally unamused scowl.

“Oh, c’mon! Relish in Jumpy’s new moves, aren’t ya happy for her?” Jumpy floated over to me, looking very happy with her handiwork, I forced a smile back at her and tugged at my collar more.

“Guzma, I’m very happy for her! I’m happy for you too it’s just… Do you see what I’m wearing?” He looked me over, I could see what he was thinking on his face.

“Just take i--”

“I’m going inside.” Just as I said that the sunlight started to ease up, but that didn’t stop my march towards the door. Guzma made a few mock noises of surprise before sauntering after me, going on about how it wasn’t  _ that _ bad or it was just a joke. Whatever. 

“I mean, that’s all I really wanted to show ya today, Missy.” He leaned against the doorframe as I relished in the slightly cooler air. I looked back at him, a little part of my heart sinking.

“What, is that my invitation to go home?” I asked  _ very carefully _ , he seemed stunned by my question and put on a more serious expression.

“I mean, why? Do you wanna go home?”

“N-No that’s not what I meant I just--” I held my tongue. What was I saying? I didn’t want to leave him, but why was I letting him know that? I didn't expect him to put everything aside just to hang out with me. Surely he had other friends to come over, I shouldn’t overstay my welcome all the time, and even after everything he’s done for me…

“Just what?” I could feel my face heat up within seconds.

“I-I just… I was hoping we could spend some more time together today.” I tried to look past his shoulder to avoid looking directly at him, but I could tell his posture softened.

“‘Course we can,” he pushed himself off the doorway and towards me, putting a guiding hand on my upper back to usher me inside. “For a second, I thought you didn’t want to be around me as much.” I smiled to myself. That used to be true.

Not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i tried to make this make sense and flow well? i hope it comes out that way, but yes some parts are supposed to be intentionally vague


End file.
